Keeping the Promise
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: Snippets from during &/or between 'Quest for Booty' up to the short comicbook that came out R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Ratchet & Clank just the words below._

_A new catagory for my 80th fic! Hope you like!_

**~#~**

Rusty Pete's warning about the structural integrity of the cavern came as quickly as a certain lombax took to admit he was wrong about his latest engineering feat. When the dust finally settled the three explorers immediately took notice of the once open gate which had now divided them.

"You okay, Tal?" Ratchet asked peering through the bars to see if she was alright.

"I'm fine" The markazian replied despite feeling a little shaken from the prospect of nearly being buried alive.

Relieved that his friend was uninjured, Ratchet focused his intellect on the broken gate between them. Had he not lost his weapons, specifically his fusion grenade glove or alpha disruptor cannon, he could have removed the gate no problem. Seeing as how they were now probably floating somewhere in the Azorean Sea, he had no choice but to rely on Rusty Pete and the decapitated head of one of his recent enemies stuck on a pike.

"Ratchet, I'll try to find a way out of here" Talwyn suggested noticing the furrowed look Ratchet was sporting. "Just promise we'll leave this place together, okay?"

"I promise" Ratchet instantly replied he had already lost one friend which he was trying to find and he was not wanting to lose another one.

Despite the seriousness of the situation she was in, Talwyn could not help but smile at his words.

"Thanks, Ratchet" She said softly suddenly feeling more assured before turning round and heading down the dark cavern towards who knows where.

"Lombax and markazian, sittin in a tree, k-i-s-s...s-i-n-hic!" Came Rusty Pete's fading voice as she rounded a corner and headed deeper into the caverns thankful that it was dark and not a soul about to see her blush.

She had no idea when she started harbouring feelings for the lombax but Talwyn was certain that said feelings had cemented themselves when he freed her from Zordoom prison albeit with the help of Clank and his supposedly _imagina__ry_ friends the Zoni. She did not know however if Ratchet harboured any feelings for her in return.

She also did not know how long she had spent wandering the caverns until she noticed some sort of green smoke or fog suddenly starting to spread throughout the cavern floor like water that seemed to be glowing covering the walls in a creepy green light.

"Ratchet, what's happening?" Talwyn said into her communicator whilst simultaneously drawing her combuster, unlike Ratchet she had made sure to secure her arsenal before they were shot out of the canon. "There's green smoke everywhere and…"

Talwyn stopped short when she noticed a particularly large clump of green smoke suddenly floated down from out of a crevice high above her then suddenly exploded to reveal what she could only describe as the ghosts of space pirates.

'_Tal! Head back to entrance!'_ She heard Ratchet yell over the communicator as he fought what she presumed was several of the ghostly beings himself. _'I'll see you there!'_

As much as Talwyn wanted to ask him what was going on, she knew him well enough to know that if something strange or bad happened within the Lombax's vicinity he was usually at its epicentre. The markazian activated her jetpack and shot back the way she came staying high enough so to avoid the ectoplasmic beings.

She had almost reached the blocked off gate when the ground ahead of her exploded as a pythor erupted from underground forcing her to swerve to avoid the pyracidic saliva spewing from the creature's open maw. Firing at the creature whilst darting about to avoid the molten blobs of burning acidic mucus the creature was throwing up at her, Talwyn attempted to manoeuvre round the pythor towards the exit only to have the creature cut her off or snap dangerously close at her tail forcing her to veer away.

"Hey, big guy!" A familiar voice yelled from behind the pythor.

Talwyn gained altitude in order to see her savior despite already knowing that it was Ratchet coming to her rescue. She quickly moved further away from the pythor as Ratchet lobbed a well-timed fusion grenade at the creature going straight into its mouth before it could spit at him. The resulting explosion made the pythor's thick skin swell like a balloon before deflating and collapsing back into the hole it had come out of.

With the threat eliminated, Talwyn flew down to where Ratchet was waiting for her and immediately engulfed him in a hug. The startled lombax was grateful his fur concealed his blush as he briefly hugged her back before pulling out of it.

"I take it you're okay?" He asked tentatively.

Talwyn nodded unable to hold back the smile blemishing her face. "I knew you'd keep your promise!"

Ratchet gave the markazian a lopsided smile before grabbing her hand and running towards the cavern exit where their transport ship should hopefully still be parked mentioning something about Slag and Pete heading towards Hoolefar Island. He could not help but notice how natural her hand fitted in his own as well as hope that, once they found Clank, he might be able to start something with her.

**~#~**

_Hope that was okay. I'll try & post more when I get the chance._

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch this omnispace & peace out!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** _ On chapter 1_

**Set: **_Just before A Crack in Time_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**~#~**_

"Are you sure about this, Ratchet?" Talwyn asked as she watched the lombax check over his new constructo-pistol making sure it was in working condition for the task ahead of him. "The Breegus system is known for being a nest of smugglers and mercenaries"

"Which is one of the reasons _why_ I'm not letting you come with me" Ratchet explained satisfied with his inspection and holstering the pistol before turning towards the markazian who was looking at him in a mixture of worry, sadness and anger.

"And taking Qwark instead?" Talwyn challenged causing Ratchet to grimace.

The self-proclaimed superhero showed up not long after Ratchet and Talwyn had returned to the Apogee space station and practically declared that he was going to help them find Clank and make sure he took all the credit for it, the last part unsaid but rather obvious. Took him long enough considering he focused on making a holofilm for the past year whilst Ratchet slaved over repairing the Iris supercomputer in order to find out anything about the Zoni leading to their trip to Azorea.

"He's…more expendable?" Ratchet replied shrugging lamely.

It was a weak, terribly weak excuse despite being true. Throughout all of his adventures, Qwark was more of a hindrance than a helping hand often forcing Ratchet to risk life and tail jumping through hoops of pyrosteel just for a tiny, if helpful, byte of information. He did have his moments, but they were terribly few and exceedingly far between.

"He's more likely to get you killed than Nefarious!" Talwyn pointed out causing Ratchet to wince at her very truthful words.

"He's also the one person, asides me and Clank, to _beat_ Nefarious" Ratchet argued back.

"Probably while the guy's back was turned!" Talwyn snorted crossing her arms as she turned her back on Ratchet.

Ratchet sighed in frustration as he stared at the markazian's back. He knew from their previous adventures that she was not going to comply with his wish for her to remain here in the space station but had clearly underestimated her resolve. While Talwyn and her two old warbot guardians were indeed a lot more helpful to him during several skirmishes during his fight against Tachyon, she was starting to become very important to him and he knew all too well what Nefarious could be like when it came to beings of the non-metallic kind.

"Listen, Tal…I know you want to come with me but…well, this is Nefarious we're talking about here. Who knows what he's cooked up this time around but I do know that it'll be too dangerous for you to be involved" The lombax finally told her. "The less new faces that can of mismatched bolts meet the better"

"I know" Talwyn muttered in defeat. "But…"

Where words failed to explain things, actions were certain to make up for them. That being the case, Talwyn quickly spun round and wrapped the lombax in her arms holding onto him tightly as if this were the last time she was going to see him. As if expecting something like this to happen, Ratchet merely reciprocated the gesture, knowing that she was probably being reminded of the time her father, Max Apogee, had gone off to retrieve the map 'Lombax Secret' only to never be heard from again.

"I _will_ come back" He promised her confidently as he pulled away from her. "Sure, I'll probably end up being rescued by Clank right after I save him, like always, but that's not going to stop me from returning"

"Better him than Qwark" Talwyn pointed out smiling at Ratchet as he cringed upon the thought of being saved by the great, green palooka.

"At least _you _think it's funny" The lombax muttered although he was smiling slightly seeing that she was now returning to her usual self again. "He'll never let me forget it!"

"You don't seem to mind being indebted to me for that time I saved your tail on Azorea" Talwyn reminded him.

"That's because you're different and...and..." He dearly wanted to say something that would make her feel special, that she had a place in his heart that even Clank was not privileged to, but chickened out at the last moment. "My point is, he'll bring it up whenever he wants a favour that is liable to get me and Clank in hot water once more"

"Just remind him of all the times you've saved _his_ life. If that won't shut him up, use the ejector seat and just chalk it up to a simple malfunction" She giggled causing Ratchet to snort at the prospect of jettisoning the hapless hero from Aphelion during their trip to the system.

"I'll keep that in mind" He told her as he pulled the markazian in for another hug that caught her off-guard.

"Be careful, Ratchet" Talwyn muttered quietly into his neck before reluctantly detaching herself from him. "And good luck- you'll need it"

"_Luck_? With _me_ going with him?" Qwark scoffed as he approached the couple completely oblivious to what he had interrupted between the two. "It'll be Nefarious and his Deathbots that will need it when they catch sight of me!"

"Whatever you say, Qwark" Ratchet muttered as he pushed passed the gormless giant on his way to the docking station where Aphelion was currently parked.

He knew that when Talwyn was wishing him luck, it was not referring to his success at rescuing Clank. He was definitely going to need it if he was to refrain from doing as she suggested and kicking his 'partner' out before they reached their destination.

_**~#~**_

_Review if possible & until next time..._

_Watch this space & peace out!_


End file.
